the Spurs were able to blow out the Suns last year in the playoffs. It might help to study that tape. I think they put the locks on Marion, as a smart poster above noted. The Spurs beat the Suns slow and they beat them running. We have to lock up Marion to have a chance, too. Howard's not going to be a good matchup there - but Tmac might take that challenge, like he did Dirk. Having seen success against a worthy opponent once with that tactic, I would think we'd go there again. I think JVG is right - we have a quickness problem. Given that, we should try another tactic against a team like Phoenix and Dallas, and probably a different line-up. It's interesting that JVG didn't go that way. Not that I want to see Bowen. Perhaps it's better to think of Howard as injured when he is an obvious mismatch. Facing injuries, JVG is pretty creative.
no crap we have a quickness and athleticism disadvantage, this is a team that jvg had a big role in making. he wanted more experience on the floor, so we got wesley, barry, mutumbo, howard, bowen. you have to realize at the same time, more athletic teams will take advantage of that. you can't have it both ways jeff. you want more quickness and athleticism, actually play it when you do get it. you have head and swift. two terrific athletes, put them out there. see if they can make a difference. the nba is all about matchups, JVG did not do a good job of playing the matchup game. we definitely need to add some athleticism and youth to this roster this offseason, again.
sadly, JVG is right in a sense. We tried to get quicker by acquiring perimeter players that can try to lock down some, but their quickness got to us and that's an absolute truth. Nash's game is to penetrate and dish the ball to the corners or a streaking Marion. How he gets those passes off is kudos to him. As for zone defense, that plays directly into the Suns' hands.... Why would anyone play zone defense against a team that relishes on the 3 point shot? It might give them some space to penetrate and stop them, but it'll probably make things worse. Also, a zone defense relishes when you have great shotblockers in the middle. In our situation, we have Yao that has the height to get blocks, but can also easily pick up easy fouls if we play that kind of defense because he'll constantly be helping out. What gets me the most is how most of the posters can't adhere to the fact that this is the second part of a back-to back against 2 teams that are running the ball. Orlando got younger and were running the court left and right. Our biggest mistake was to let Orlando back in the game, not allowing us to rest our starters for the all-important game last night (Monday night). To make matters worse, we had to play the Suns of all teams yesterday. From the get-go, even when the Suns were down, they were running the ball like a sprint race from one end to the other, knowing we'll tire down. The defense was not the sole problem, we had a late lead in the second half before Yao was taken out (along with the whole offense apparently). When he left, we were not able to get much of a rebound and Marion dominated us at that stretch to give the Suns a 10 pt lead heading to the 4th quarter. I'll hardly blame that on JVG. When your players have lapses in boxing out and grabbing rebounds and all your shots goes halfway into the basket and comes out, what are you going to do? In a game such as this on the backend of a back-to-back, you have to rest Yao. Mutumbo was too slow and Hayes just isn't a feared shot blocker. When Nash got around Rafer a few times in a row and penetrated, Marion was nailing 18' jumpers time after time. If I were the Rockets, I'd welcome him to take that shot too, considering he was airballing em left and right a couple minutes earlier. It's about shooting and hoping that they miss their shots. The Suns were getting good shots off of Nash's penetration, but those shots were not the ones that they usually get if you've watched any of their other games. Their spots are a little farther than usual, until the Suns started offensive rebounding, but that's just another story. Finally, the Spurs were able to keep up with Nash and their guards. With Bowen denying the ball to Joe Johnson and Duncan guarding Marion, the Suns were not able to control the tempo. When you have Duncan in the middle, with another 7' er that can block shots and rebound (Nesterovic/ Muhammad), a "zone defense" might work better because 1) the zone can be extended out farther to the 3 pt line and 2) the guards are a little quicker to be able to recover enough to stop medium range jumpers. The Rockets still need to fill that gap in order to totally stop them defensively. You do what you can with what you are given. I wouldn't place that blame squarely on JVG after every loss and praise the players after every win....
I am thinking, may be this will work. Since the Sun killed us with the perimeter shot. Let's give up the interior defense without Yao presented. Instead, have Yao station at the opposite court and under their basket all all time. There is no need for Yao to come back for defense, just stay at the opposite court like waiting for the fast break. Yao will not get tired and he will get some hail-mary long passes. Plus he is not double team. He will kill the Sun offensively. Sun will have to guard Yao at their own court. The only player they have with the size and skill is Shawn. That means we take one of their best player out of the Offensive picture. On top of that, Steve will have one less option to pass the ball.
Spurs are quicker than the Rockets. Tony Desperate Housewives Parker is quick Manu is quick Bowen is quick Tim Duncan is kinda quick Juwan is not quick
Yao could be the most dominant snowbird in the history of the NBA. but JVG is too stupid to realize this. Somebody start a petition.
That idea has always came up in one sense or another.... However, with the court being what it is. The Rockets will never be able to throw a hail mary pass down the other end without one of the Sun's guards or any NBa guard to get back and do something about stealing the pass whenever a shot was made. 5 vs 4, in all likelihood, would result with the opponents getting a good shot.
good posts verse and candlegreen. well thought-out and dead on the money. thats the way I see things going also. Its refreshing to see Don DaDakote tilting at his latest windmill
thx 4 the compliments guys. i do want to point out an excellent post by Easy: exactly. if you look at the top teams in the nba, historically and currently speaking, the top teams have one thing in common - a star player or star players. what separates the ice cream from the bullsh*t??? the acquisition of those players, those role players that fit your system to a T. in our case (and in almost all championship teams' case), these are the guys that can play *at least* average defense, and can stick an open jumper. if some or all of them can penetrate, as well? you're looking at a championship team. these are the guys that don't take up a lot of cap room, but do give you maximum production. bruce bowen manu ginobili (even b4 the extension) tony parker (see ginobili) tayshaun prince maurice evans lindsey hunter devean george derek fisher robert horry jaren jackson sean elliot mario elie sam cassell (of '94) ...all players with a grit, a culture as JVG likes to say, a way of contributing with timely shots, good decision making, decent defense and low salary. swift was supposed to be that kind of player. he has not been. sura was supposed to. he's hurt. jon barry? hurt. rafer, wesley, head, hell the entire roster outside of yao/tmac! the only one that has CONSISTENTLY done his job, IMHO, has been dikembe (at 65 years old, no less). outside of what i outlined earlier? hope for perfect execution. hope that yao gets the ball 30+ times and does not get tired. hope that rafer, yoda (wesley), and head not only not down the open shots, but penetrate successfully, as well. oh yea, and hope tmac wakes up and sees that the team needs him to be aggressive, passionate, and consistent with his effort.
It is 5 vs 4 anyway because they don't take inside if Yao is in the paint. Steve Nash dribble inside and passed back out and that kill our player rotation. I will dare Sun will leave Yao under their basket. I just want to force them to change what the Sun has been comfortable with. Not allow them to play 5 on 5 out of position, but 4 on 4.
I can see that people do not understand the concept of a zone defense. Yes, penetration is it's weakness, but there are many kinds of zones. I would deny the ball to Nash, guard the 3pt line and mix in a little zone with man to man defense. I would let Nash score all he wants, but keep everyone else from beating us, and I would pound Nash, get very physical on fouls if he came into the lane. Let Yao crush him down once, see if he keeps coming..... DD
exactly the system will work...we have seen that in the games we played well, the team looks great when the open shots are falling. the games that sucked badly still had the same open shots...but those times...we totally failed to knock them down. I dont have a problem with the system(O or D) because when they have been executed correctly, the team play is fantastic...our biggest problem is that we need some personnel upgrades, we dont have the right personnel filling the slots if we expect a championship...our guys can be very good when they play together....we just cant quite beat the elite yet.
i have a lot of questions, but i'm going to start with this one: how do you propose denying the ball to nash?
No, it spells ANTI-COACHING!!! A zone works well against an athletic team that embraces isolation plays (perfectly against Rudy's Francis-dribblemania). A zone fears two things: 1. great outside shooting 2. great passing What does that spell???? SUNS! A zone against the Suns is suicide.
I said it earlier in this thread, but I would take a page out of Bill Fitch's book and the '86 Rockets team that used this strategy to beat the Lakers, they took Magic out of his comfort zone. As soon as the Rockets take a shot, you have a guy guard Nash (all over the court), and deny the outlet pass (Mitch Wiggins did it on Magic), make someone else bring it up as often as you can, in addition you have to punish Nash on defense, wear him out. Either by penetration, or by posting a larger PG up on him and backing him down into the paint. If you let Nash play his game, they will hammer us, but if you make it. A. Difficult for Nash to get the ball B. Cut off his open teamates by not rotating or doubling him. c. Punish him when he comes into the lane I believe you will have a much better chance of winning. DD
A box and one zone would work well in spurts against the Suns, also an extended zone would keep all their shooters covered, and protect Yao on defense. A zone would work as a switch up, IMHO. DD
Whether this would work or not, this has new rule by the NBA written all over it. Nobody wants to see a guy camped down at the other end of the court no matter how successful it is. And JVG would never use it anyway because that would involve sacrificing defense.
now *that* is theoretically a sound strategy Dak. problem is...do we have the personnel to execute it? sadly...I dont think so. he is just too damn good.
btw, i think i understand where the anti-JVG sentiment is coming from...at least some of them. i've heard (and read) people asking why are we trying to fit square pegs into round holes? why are we so attached to a system that may or may not be best for the players on this roster? well, that's a very good question, and an even better question after a loss. the answer? because the only thing our system is really asking players to do, especially on offense, is to move the ball, play effeciently (low turnovers and unforced errors), and knock down open shots. run - under control - when available. when we don't do it, the system looks horrid. when we do? it's beautiful. all i know is what dean smith told kenny smith at NC: "the difference between nba players and non nba players is simple. most talented players can make the hard shots, make the twisting layups and fadeaways. true nba players knock down the open shot. that shot has to go in." too often, our role players do not play like nba players.
